Australian prime minister will set a referendum date for Indigenous Voice to Parliament

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Anthony Albanese says he expects public support for creating a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament will grow after he focuses the nation’s minds on the issue by setting a date for Australia’s first referendum in a generation. Albanese will announce on Wednesday a date for a referendum that would enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a collection of advocates aimed at giving the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority more say on government policy. Media speculation favors Oct. 14 as the most likely date for Australia’s first referendum since 1999. Albanese has long maintained confidence that the referendum would succeed despite opinion polls showing marginal majority support for the Voice had slipped in recent months.